arXiv subjects

Alain Hui-Bon-Hoa

Publications and source records attributed to Alain Hui-Bon-Hoa.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fundamental properties of two rapidly rotating stars: Rasalhague and Alkaid

Abridged : The fundamental parameters of rapidly rotating stars are key quantities to understand the impact of rotation on stellar evolution. A few nearby early-type stars offer the possibility of precise measurements of these parameters, which will help us constrain newly available two-dimensional models. We propose a method to retrieve the fundamental parameters of a fast rotating star (mass, rotation rate, and age), and also the inclination of its rotation axis on the line of sight, using five spectrophotometric observables along with a set of steady 2D-models. Using the temperature derived by the infrared flux method, the Vsini and the apparent luminosity, along with a grid of 2D steady state models, we select models that are compatible with all observational constraints, and derive the most probable mass, rotation rate, core hydrogen mass fraction relative to that of the envelope, and inclination of the rotation axis on the line of sight of the targetted star. We apply this method to two stars: Rasalhague (alpha Oph) and Alkaid (eta UMa). We confirm and improve the fundamental parameters of Rasalhague and provide a new determination of its rotation axis inclination on the line-of-sight, which we find to be $\sim69$ degrees. Concerning Alkaid, we infer a mass of $5.071\pm0.023 M_\odot$, a rotation rate corresponding to an equatorial rotation period of 14.6 hours. We also find an inclination of the rotation axis of $\sim42$ degrees. We show that Alkaid is a very young star, presumably between 2 and 8 Myrs off the Zero-Age Main Sequence. As a side result, using high resolution spectra and the Least Square Deconvolution method, we determined a precise value of the Vsini of Rasalhague, namely $224.3\pm2.6$ km/s. Similarly, we find $V\sin i=154.3\pm9.1$ km/s for Alkaid.

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arXiv2024

Radiative acceleration calculation methods and abundance anomalies in Am stars

Atomic diffusion with radiative levitation is a major transport process to consider to explain abundance anomalies in Am stars. Radiative accelerations vary from one species to another, yielding different abundance anomalies at the stellar surface. Radiative accelerations can be computed using different methods: some evolution codes use an analytical approximation, while others calculate them from monochromatic opacities. We compared the abundance evolutions predicted using these various methods. Our models were computed with the Toulouse-Geneva evolution code, in which both an analytical approximation (the single-valued parameter method) and detailed calculations from Opacity Project (OP) atomic data are implemented for the calculation of radiative accelerations. The time evolutions of the surface abundances were computed using macroscopic transport processes that are able to reproduce observed Am star surface abundances in presence of atomic diffusion, namely an ad hoc turbulent model or a global mass loss. The radiative accelerations obtained with the various methods are globally in agreement for all the models below the helium convective zone, but can be much greater between the bottom of the hydrogen convective zone and that of helium. The time evolutions of the surface abundances mostly agree within the observational error, but the abundance of some elements can exceed this error for the least massive mass-loss model. The gain in computing time from using analytical approximations is significant compared to sequential calculations from monochromatic opacities for the turbulence models and for the least massive wind model; the gain is small otherwise. Test calculations of turbulence models with the tabulated OPAL opacities yield quite similar abundances as OP for most elements but in a much shorter time, so that determining Am star parameters can be done using a two-step method.

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arXiv2024

Photometric determination of rotation axis inclination, rotation rate, and mass of rapidly rotating intermediate-mass stars

Intermediate-mass stars are often fast rotators, and hence are centrifugally flattened and affected by gravity darkening. To analyse this kind of stars properly, one must turn to 2D models to compute the visible radiative flux and to take the geometrical effect of the star inclination into account. Assuming a given stellar age and chemical composition, we aim to derive the mass and rotation rates of main sequence fast rotating stars, along with their inclination, from photometric quantities. We chose three observables that vary with mass, rotation, and inclination: the infrared flux method temperature T_IRFM, the Strömgren c1 index, and a second index c2 built in the same way, but sensitive to the UV side of the Balmer jump. These observables are computed from synthetic spectra produced with the PHOENIX code and rely on a 2D stellar structure from the ESTER code. These quantities are computed for a grid of models in the range 2 to 7~M_Sun, and rotation rates from 30% to 80% of the critical rate. Then, for any triplet (T_IRFM, c1, c2), we try to retrieve the mass, rotation rate, and inclination using a Levenberg-Marquardt scheme, after a selection step to find the most suitable starting models. Hare-and-hound tests showed that our algorithm can recover the mass, rotation rate, and inclination with a good accuracy. The difference between input and retrieved parameters is negligible for models lying on the grid and is less than a few percent otherwise. An application to the real case of Vega showed that the u filter is located in a spectral region where the modelled and observed spectra are discrepant, and led us to define a new filter. Using this new filter and subsequent index, the Vega parameters are also retrieved with satisfactory accuracy. This work opens the possibility to determine the fundamental parameters of rapidly rotating early-type stars from photometric space observations.

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arXiv2021

Stellar models with self-consistent Rosseland opacities

The building of a stellar structure requires knowing the Rosseland mean opacity at each layer of the model. This mean opacity is very often interpolated in pre-computed tables due to the overwhelming time to compute it from monochromatic cross sections. The main drawback to using tables is that the opacities can be inconsistent with the actual local chemical composition, for instance in the regions of the star where nucleosynthesis occurs. We developed a strategy that allows very fast calculations of Rosseland opacities from monochromatic cross sections. This method has been implemented in the Toulouse-Geneva evolution code, which we used to compute evolutionary tracks with models whose Rosseland opacities are fully consistent with the chemical mix everywhere in the star. Our self-consistent models show very small structural differences compared to models where the Rosseland opacity is computed with a fixed metal mixture. The main-sequence evolutionary tracks are almost the same for models of mass ranging from 2 to 8 solar masses. At a given surface gravity the relative difference in age is lower than 2% and generally below 1% between the two kinds of calculations, the self-consistent model being younger most of the time. Unless such a precision in age is sought out, the use of tabulated Rosseland opacities with a metal content defined globally is still acceptable, at least in main-sequence stars where the chemical mix changes only through nucleosynthesis.

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arXiv2018

Effect of diffusion-induced element accumulation on the opacity inside B stars

Stellar models with homogeneous abundances fail to reproduce the pulsation frequencies of early B-type stars. Their oscillations are excited by kappa-mechanism involving the Fe-peak elements where they are main contributors to the opacity (the "Z-bump") and a ad hoc increase of the opacity in these layers is necessary to match the observations. We test whether atomic diffusion can induce such an opacity increase through Fe and Ni accumulations in the Z-bump. With models computed using the Toulouse-Geneva Evolution Code, we show that atomic diffusion changes the abundance profiles inside the star, leading to an overabundance of the iron-peak elements in the upper envelope. The opacity may reach the amount required by seismic studies, provided that fingering mixing, which extends the size of the overabundance zone, is taken into account. Mass-loss is also required to evolve the model until the end of the main sequence.

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